


Worm On A String

by FictionalWorldsAreExquisite



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Fireworks, Fluff, Gen, New Year's Eve, Platonic Cuddling, Platonic Soulmates, Soulmates, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, y'all i think i'm starting to figure out this whole tagging thing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-31
Updated: 2019-12-31
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:42:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22048081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FictionalWorldsAreExquisite/pseuds/FictionalWorldsAreExquisite
Summary: On New Year's Eve, a spell cast upon part of New York City is activated, a soulmate spell. Tony finds himself with a golden string on his right little finger, an indication that his platonic soulmate was also within range of the spell. He doesn't seek them out but then Peter arrives...
Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Comments: 25
Kudos: 404





	Worm On A String

**Author's Note:**

> hello. it is i. so i decided to write a NYE fic, I was gonna write more than one buut ultimately this combined some of the elements of the others and i wasn't feeling too well yesterday so i just worked on this one. NYE is never rlly something i've done anything special for, when i was younger my parents would remove my bedtime and let me stay up until 12 (if i didn't fall asleep before lmao) which was pretty rad but like now...i'm normally awake at that time anyway so,, i didn't really know what i wanted this fic to be
> 
> but i ended up doing somethin kind of experimental with this. soulmate fics r something i don't r e a l l y feel strongly for but i had this vivid picture in my mind of a glowing golden string lighting up a snowy background and it was so pretty i decided to work off it. i think it's a little too much set up with a short carry through but listen,, it's 11pm,, i have VERY little time to expand,, it's still okay. i hope you enjoy my last fic of the year (and the decade!). And please forgive any mistakes, I ended up starting to edit this at 9PM today lmao, it's a lil rushed
> 
> (I was going to post this at midnight but listen...it's almost 11pm...there's basically 1 hour...that's close enough...)

New Year’s Eve was something people celebrated, counting down the seconds until the new year rolled in. Normally it signified the start of new beginnings for a lot of people, a motivator to make changes in an individual’s personal life.

Typically though, it was just another night rolling into the next day. Time was a human concept, it was created and followed and marked when human’s decided something was worth acknowledging in the future when they completed another trip around the sun. Dates were given significance, they weren’t something that inherently had it. 

Except this New Year’s Eve was different.

Doctor Stephen Strange had called a meeting with the Avengers a day ago much to Tony’s surprise. Business of the sorcerer’s was often kept at a distance from them, it was a rarity to be invited into their ‘private’ matters (Tony _personally_ considered a magical fight in the middle of New York a _public_ matter but Stephen almost never budged on his secrecy). It turned out to be a briefing.

Stephen and Wong had handled a threat in downtown New York before it got out of hand but before they’d managed to bind the attacker’s magic, he had managed to cast one last spell.

As far as they could tell, it had only affected a portion of New York City, but that could still be millions of people. It was set to activate on New Year’s Eve, 48 hours after it was cast, leaving the magic time to analyse every person present.

The spell itself wasn’t inherently bad and was often looked upon joyously in other realms, but bringing it into human culture where it only existed in fiction could lead to some...problems. Mostly due to potential violent reactions, not to do with harmful effects from the spell itself. There was, thankfully, the reassurance that some people would respond positively to it.

Tony hadn’t really seen the bad side at first but once reminded of the unpredictability of human behaviour and the alarming amount of aggressiveness displayed when romantic relations were threatened, he realised the problem. Not to mention, if the public didn’t know what was happening, there’d be violence born out of fear.

It was a soulmate spell.

It obviously wasn’t perfect considering it only covered a section of New York, so not everyone affected by the spell would actually see any signs manifest because their soulmate was out of range. Young children likely wouldn’t manifest any signs of it either, although it was a possibility without knowing exactly what spell had been cast.

According to Strange, people in other realms had a series of unspoken etiquette surrounding it, depending on how it manifested. If you met your soulmate while in a relationship, there were a few civilised ways it could be handled, and it didn’t often need to dictate anything. 

On Earth though...well, the correct way of handling it wasn’t taught because it didn’t exist prior to now. It didn’t seem to matter that the pairings were just magic determining compatibility and not an indicator of love upfront, Tony had already been made aware that the number of domestic abuse cases police were being called out to had skyrocketed.

Unless some enhanced people ended up being involved in one of those domestics, the Avengers wouldn’t be called in, but they needed to be alert and informed. Tony had been given another job, having to organise a press conference to inform the public and attend a meeting with the police to allow them to maximise their available numbers in time for the day in anticipation of fights breaking out (because apparently Strange couldn’t do it himself).

Despite Tony sharing publically a lot of what Strange had said in the hopes of minimising incidents, it hadn’t seemed to do much. People didn’t seem to care, if their wife was magically paired with their best friend, they’d feel the need to start a fight (despite, and Tony couldn’t stress this enough, it not being an indicator of any feelings already present).

It hadn’t all been bad. Some people not in relationships had found their way to their soulmate and welcomed them into their life though others had brushed it off entirely. Plus, the spell also connected platonic soulmates which had been a pretty problem-free area so far.

Tony stared down at his hands. The spell had manifested in the form of a golden string for him, wrapped around his right little finger. A mix of Strange and data already pouring in online let him know that this string led to his platonic soulmate somewhere, romantic ones were red. Whoever his romantic soulmate was, they’d been unaffected by the spell, but his platonic one was in range.

It had appeared that afternoon, faint at first but steadily growing more solid as the time ticked by. It wasn’t something he could touch, not something FRIDAY or anyone else could see and it was weirdly unobtrusive. He didn’t notice it too much unless he focused on it.

It was weird to think that his platonic soulmate wasn’t even that far from him. He could probably find the person if he really wanted to. From what had been reported so far, people had discovered their platonic soulmate was their best friend, a family member, or a complete stranger they’d ended up getting along with almost instantaneously. No bonds formed on the spot in the case of strangers, but they were people you clicked with strangely well.

He wasn’t sure he wanted to find them though. Rhodey wasn’t even in the state, neither was Pepper and Happy was with her. It wasn’t anyone he’d known for a while then so it could very well be a stranger. He was happy with the people already near him and didn’t feel the need to seek anyone else out.

It was then FRIDAY broke through his wandering thoughts, “Boss, Peter Parker is asking to come up.”

Tony frowned, it was getting late, kid should be at home. Unless something had gone wrong in his apartment building with the new spell...but then he’d probably have May with him.

“Let him up, FRI.”

“He will arrive in approximately one minute.” He’d have to change that announcement at some point. He already knew how long it took to get from the ground floor to his penthouse, FRIDAY didn’t need to state it.

“Thanks.” He shuffled around on the couch so he was facing the door that Peter would walk through. Maybe Peter was just having a crisis because he’d discovered one of his soulmates or something and May was working so Tony was the next best person he could come to in a panic. He wouldn’t mind listening to that rant.

Tony turned his head to the side and looked out the window. It was snowing softly, just enough to cover everything lightly in white, although it’d likely be much deeper in the morning. From his penthouse, he didn’t really see many lights of the city unless he was up against the window due to the height, but the soft lighting in the lounge illuminated the snow.

“Mr. Stark?” 

Tony turned his head back to the doorway to find Peter staring at him, mouth slightly open, frozen in place. He looked down at himself, “that’s me. What’s the face for? Pretty sure I don’t look weird today, I-” he cut himself off as he noticed that the string around his finger had gone taut, heading straight for Peter. He followed it with his eyes slowly until he saw the other end wrapped around Peter’s right little finger.

Well, that was-

“I’m not kissing you!” Peter blurted out.

Tony was shocked out of his thoughts and stared at the kid before quickly replying, “it’s platonic!” in a similar tone of voice. Clearly, the kid had not been staying up to date on the topic. God, that would just be weird.

Peter relaxed. “Oh. Oh well, that’s okay then. Wow. I’m your platonic soulmate? Wait no, that’s not okay then. That’s a lot to process. I mean, it’s okay, obviously, but like, give me a second you know? That’s crazy. Not bad crazy! But like, I didn’t see this coming. I mean, I should’ve considering my worm on a string led me here-”

“Your what?”

“My finger string! But I didn’t even consider it! This is cool. Wait, are you cool with this? Is this cool? Because like, I can consider it not cool if you’re not cool-”

“Peter, if you say cool one more time…”

“Oh, right! Yeah. Anyway…” Peter trailed off.

“Anyway,” Tony continued, “of course it’s fine. A little, well, a lot unexpected but I’m cool with it, as you say.” He was. At least it wasn’t a stranger, and it being Peter solidified Tony’s place in his life. Tony was surprisingly unpanicked by this revelation.

Peter frowned, “wait. But what about Aunt May? She practically raised me, is this offensive? Oh no-”

Tony cut him off before he could start spiralling, “no, kiddo. It just measures compatibility. May could be 0.01% less compatible than me for all we know, I’ve seen enough of people assuming the worst today. Just trust me on that one. She can still very much be the closest person in your life.”

“Oh.” Peter considered this. “Okay then, that seems fine.”

“Now, come on, are you going to just stand in the doorway all night?” Tony shuffled his legs over slightly to invite Peter to sit right next to him.

Peter walked over, watching as the string got shorter and shorter and started glowing brightly when he was just a few steps away. He paused. “This doesn’t, like, explode if we touch right? Because I was going to sit next to you and act like I slipped while sitting down so I’d fall into your side hoping you’d hug me closer but if you didn’t then I could just straighten myself up and play it off as an accident but this is getting really bright.”

Tony snorted and lifted his arm, “it’s safe, no reports of injuries and Strange would’ve told me if that was possible. You’re welcome to just curl up without your elaborate scheme. I think we’re there, kid.”

Peter looked relieved and continued walking, sitting down and tucking himself under Tony’s arm. Tony brought it down and pulled Peter closer. There was a soft burst of light that lit them up and Tony stared, curious. “Give me your hand- no, the one with the string on it.”

Peter held it out and Tony reached out to grab it to see what would happen. Once their little fingers brushed, the light dispersed in a soft explosion around them, leaving behind two golden suns on their little fingers. 

“Huh.” Tony let go of Peter’s hand and rubbed at his. It didn’t hurt or anything but the sun was seemingly part of his skin now, like some kind of magic tattoo. It was faintly warm but the heat was fading fast. 

“FRIDAY, text Strange a video of what just happened, it might help with their research.” According to the sorcerer, soulmate spells weren’t something he had a lot of expertise on. Wong, Stephen, and a select few of the sorcerer’s at Kamar-Taj had been trying to nail down the exact origin and details of the spell but it was a bit like looking for a needle in a haystack. The video would probably offer some clues.

“Done, Sir.”

“All good, Pete?” He turned to face the kid as it occurred to him that Peter’s enhancements might mean he felt that more than Tony.

Peter looked up at him and hummed. “It was just a quick tingling sensation that kind of tickled before it stopped and got warm.” As he suspected, more than Tony felt, but thankfully nothing bad.

“Does May know you’re here?” Onto the most important question since Tony valued his life.

“No, she’s working at the hospital because there’s been an influx of patients. She said it wasn’t too much but they could use the extra hand so she stepped in.”

“The spell’s caused a lot of fights when it comes to romantic soulmates, I’m not surprised. But you should text her if you’re staying.”

Peter nodded and wriggled around so he could pull his phone out of his pocket and type out a quick message. “I just thought I’d follow the string to see where it took me because I was curious. I didn’t know that I’d end up here, but it’s probably getting a bit late to head back.”

“That’s fine, kid. The Avengers might be called out if there are any fights beyond what the police can handle but it probably would’ve happened by now. Besides, you’re welcome to stay here by yourself.” Tony trusted Peter not to burn the place down. Well, not purposefully anyway.

Surprisingly, Peter didn’t even ask Tony to let him join the Avengers if they got called out. After he sent the message, he just put his phone down and relaxed back into Tony’s side, poking at the sun on his finger. “Is this like, permanent?”

Tony shrugged, “the spell itself is only meant to last 24 hours as far as Strange can tell, but that could be entirely wrong since he’s still narrowing the exact spell down as he gets more information. And maybe those suns will remain even after that, I’m not sure.” He didn’t like not knowing but at least danger wasn’t involved.

Peter went to say something before stopping and tilting his head. Tony looked around but he couldn’t tell what had Peter’s attention. “What’s going on, Pete?”

Peter snapped out of it and looked out the window, “fireworks!”

Sure enough, he was right. Out the window, you could vaguely see an array of colourful fireworks from their position. Not surprising considering the date but Tony certainly hadn’t noticed. 

“Can I move the couch over so we can watch them from inside, Mr. Stark?” Peter asked excitedly.

“Only if you let me get off it first so I don’t have to fear for my life when you put it above your head.” That had happened once before and Tony never wanted to go through it again.

Peter scoffed but let him stand up anyway before lifting the whole thing effortlessly and putting it down carefully in front of the window.

“We should have like, blankets and hot chocolate too!” It was getting a little cold and he knew the kid felt it more, plus he’d been out in the snow earlier, so he wasn’t surprised that Peter was looking for warmth.

“Alright, kid, you’re on blanket duty, I’ll make us some hot chocolates.” Peter nodded and headed straight out of the room on a search for blankets.

Tony walked into the kitchen and prepared some basic hot chocolates with powder he had sitting in the cupboard and a few marshmallows he found. Really, he barely had to do any work. It was Peter who had to lug all the blankets in, looking smothered but content as he walked past the kitchen.

By the time the hot chocolate was done, Peter was in a cocoon on the couch in blankets, a few spare ones left for Tony. Tony snorted, “you’re going to need an arm for your drink.”

There was intense wriggling from inside the blanket until about ten seconds later, an arm emerged and reached out with a grabby hand. Tony passed the drink over and Peter sipped at it, sighing and relaxing back into the couch. Tony doubted he could actually feel the couch through all those blankets though.

Tony sat down, just draping a blanket over his lap as he joined Peter in looking out the window. From the height they were at, there were multiple firework displays visible. Some intense and clearly professional, some more broken and small that were likely from smaller gatherings. 

Every colour lit up the night sky in various shapes and sizes, pushing back the darkness just for a few seconds to allow the light to make itself known. Tony couldn’t hear it but he knew Peter could by the way he sometimes tilted his head in excitement as certain ones lit up. He was content with the quiet, anyway. 

It was nearing midnight when both Tony and Peter had finished their hot chocolates, cups abandoned on the floor. Peter had just fallen over into Tony’s side (aka, Tony just got hit with a mound of blankets), blinking sleepily when he realised what had happened.

“Not going to make it to midnight?” Tony teased.

Peter shook his head determinably, “no, I will. I’m just a bit tired, that’s all.” He yawned loudly.

Tony nodded like he believed him (he didn’t) and shuffled them so they were both laying down, Peter squished into the back of the couch, head on Tony’s chest so he could still see the ongoing fireworks. 

Peter, in turn, let himself be moved then wriggled so he could unwrap himself slightly from the blankets and chuck half of each one over Tony so there wasn’t a thick layer of blankets separating them. Unsurprisingly, that was more comfortable.

“Hey, Mr. Stark?” Peter mumbled.

“Yeah, kiddo?” Tony moved one hand up to run it through Peter’s hair.

“I’m really glad you’re my platonic soulmate. That’s cool.”

Tony rolled his eyes at ‘cool’ still being the only word Peter had to describe it but softened anyway, “me too, Pete. I’m glad it’s you.”

Tony would like to say that he was awake at midnight when a burst of fireworks took place from every direction, signalling the new year. But that would be a lie. Truthfully, it only took him and Peter a few minutes to drift to sleep once laying down.

It didn’t really matter though. When he woke up the next morning and found Peter still asleep, breathing softly against his chest as the sunlight streamed in, he realised that this was his favourite way to start the new year. If this was his first waking moment of it, then it was bound to be a good one.

Tony turned his head and saw Peter’s right hand resting on the couch, the sun on his little finger still there and smiled. This was definitely the best start to a year ever. As long as May didn’t accuse him of tattooing her kid.

**Author's Note:**

> i want to use my end notes to throw out a MASSIVE thanks to everyone who's read any of my fics this year! I chucked my first marvel fic out in july, i think between uni semesters and y'all were really nice about it so after uni finished for the year back in november, i decided to write some more and i came out with my first chapter fic! and y'all were SUPER nice again! and then Peter's Pockets happened and woah! that's my most popular fic on here now! i was just playing around writing something dumb and apparently people were HERE for that. The welcoming reception really made writing become part of my everyday life again because I was so excited to try out all my different ideas and show everyone and I honestly feel like I've improved so much in just a month. It's been nice to have that there.
> 
> Whether this is the first fic you've read of mine or you've read basically all of them, thank you. If you decided you're not a fan of my writing, that's cool! thanks for giving it a chance! If you've been leaving sweet comments on basically every one of my works, thank you so much! I love you, they're so motivating. Happy New Year to everyone! I hope this next decade is full of incredible things for you!
> 
> (i genuinely did have a really nice title for this fic but then i realised i had to call it worm on a string. i'm sorry. it was out of my control)


End file.
